! O slayer of Madhu, while the sons of Pandu
and the Panchalas and the Vrishnis lived, they dared express the desire
of using me as their slave! O Krishna, I am according to the ordinance,
the daughter in-law of both Dhritarashtra and Bhishma! Yet, O slayer of
Madhu, they wished to make of me a slave by force! I blame the Pandavas
who are mighty and foremost in battle, for they saw (without stirring)
their own wedded wife known over all the world, treated with such
cruelty! Oh, fie on the might of Bhimasena, fie on the Gandiva of Arjuna,
for they, O Janardana, both suffered me to be thus disgraced by little
men! This eternal course of morality is ever followed by the
virtuous--viz., that the husband, however weak, protecteth his wedded
wife! By protecting the wife one protecteth his offspring and by
protecting the offspring one protecteth his own self! One's own self is
begotten on one's wife, and therefore it is that the wife is called Jaya.
A wife also should protect her lord, remembering that he is to take his
birth in her womb! The Pandavas never forsake the person that soliciteth
their protection, and yet they abandoned me who solicited it! By my five
husbands five sons of exceeding energy have been born of me: Prativindhya
by Yudhishthira, Sutasoma by Vrikodara, Srutakirti by Arjuna, Satanika by
Nakula and Srutakarman by the youngest, all of them of energy that cannot
be baffled. For their sake, O Janardana, it was necessary to protect me!
Even as (thy son) Pradyumna, they are, O Krishna, mighty warriors all!
They are foremost of bowmen, and invincible in battle by any foe! Why do
they bear the wrongs inflicted (on me) by the sons of Dhritarashtra of
such contemptible strength? Deprived of their kingdom by deception, the
Pandavas were made bondsmen and I myself was dragged to the assembly
while in my season, and having only a single cloth on! Fie on that
Gandiva which none else can string save Arjuna and Bhima and thyself, O
slayer of Madhu! Fie on the strength of Bhima, and fie on the prowess of
Arjuna, since, O Krishna, Duryodhana (after what he had done) hath drawn
breath even for a moment! He it is, O slayer of Madhu, who formerly drove
the guileless Pandavas with their mother from the kingdom, while they
were children still engaged in study and the observance of their vows. It
is that sinful wretch, who, horrible to relate, mixed in Bhima's food
fresh and virulent poison in full dose. But, O Janardana, Bhima dig